Misadventures in Banff
Following my relaxing time in downtown Calgary, my travel buddy and I started our 30 minute drive to Canmore, but in the middle of the road, discovered a small crack on the windshield even though we didn't see any small rocks hitting it. Surprisingly by the time we got to our hotel in Canmore, the hood of the car was filled with blood of dead mosquitos. Don't freak out though since this apparently happens when making the road trip, although no bloggers ever wrote about it! That's the extent of the misadventures we encountered coupled with a few minor ones in between. Phew.
Hint: Some restaurants are definitely tourists traps! Beware.
What I Wished I Did
While it was a wise idea to skip Banff's Upper Hot Springs, which was a swimming pool filled with people doing nothing, I wished that we took the time to kayak on the red wooden boat that is readily available at Lake Louise. These boats are local to Alberta, fyi.
The Drive to Banff
There are many options for accommodations at Banff, although my travel buddy and I preferred to save some our Canadian dollars and opted to stay at Canmore, 20 minutes away from Banff's entrance. There is a lot of driving involved, especially getting to Lake Louise and Moraine Lake, so be sure to time yourself on every pitstop wisely.
We only had 2 days in Banff so our compressed itinerary resulted us in making quick stops at the most photogenic sites while still saving ample time to leisurely hike on both days.
Day 1
There are many food establishments in downtown Banff, but I will not recommend any of them since I didn't spend so much time in restaurants to be able to compare and contrast. What I do recommend though is Cow's Canadian maple ice cream! We only had 2 days in Banff so our compressed itinerary resulted us in making quick stops at the most photogenic sites while still saving ample time to leisurely hike on both days.
Day 1
- Breakfast at downtown Banff
- Drive to Moraine Lake
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| The picturesque Moraine Lake. |
- Lake Louise: finding parking is a pain so go later in the day.
- 3 hour hike to Lake Agnes tea house making a stop at Mirror lake
- Lunch at the tea house
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| Lake Louise is known for its blue-green lake with a backdrop of the Canadian rockies. |
- Banff gondola Sulphur Mountain
- Skipped Banff Upper Hots Springs
- Dinner at Banff downtown
Day 2
- Breakfast at Canmore
- Jonston Canyon
- Hike to lower and upper canyon
- Lake Minnewanka
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| Lake Minnewanka also has hiking trails and water activities. |
- Cave and Basin National Historic Site, Canada's first national park
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| A relaxing time at Canada's first national park. |
- Walked around Banff downtown shopping for souvenirs
- Ate ice cream at Cow
- Dinner at Banff downtown
Hint: Some restaurants are definitely tourists traps! Beware.
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| Cow's ice cream is as good as it can get at Banff. |
While it was a wise idea to skip Banff's Upper Hot Springs, which was a swimming pool filled with people doing nothing, I wished that we took the time to kayak on the red wooden boat that is readily available at Lake Louise. These boats are local to Alberta, fyi.
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| Spot the kayakers on the red boat. |
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